USA > Minnesota > Waseca County > Child's history of Waseca County, Minnesota : from its first settlement in 1854 to the close of the year 1904, a record of fifty years : the story of the pioneers > Part 55
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"Among the oldest. settlers of LeRay township, I call to mind Thos. Davis, who died in 1860; my father, John Cummins; A. P. Johnson who
went to Wisconsin in 1863; Ed. Clocksun; Adna Carpenter,
late of Janesville; A. Lamer, of "Old Janesville;" Hen- ry Lane, who died in 1879; and Captain Dane, who used to preach to us. Moses Bennett and Hollis Whitney both died some years ago. These were among the men who at the time of the Indian outbreak in 1862, moved to the old town site of Iosco. Mr. Bennett took a large drove of cattle with him, and a wagon loaded with cheese of his own make with two yoke of oxen attached. They camped in military array for a few days and then returned to their homes.
"When I came to old Janesville there were many old settlers, but they were mostly Indians. Among the first white settlers were J. W. Hosmer, N. E. Strong, John Cunningham, John Davis, John Wind, John Bradish, Richard Dreever, John Put, Wm. Cahill, Thos. McHugo, Thos. Bichel, John McCue, James McCue, and Patrick McCue.
"Oh! by the way, I came near forgetting Geo. Dreever, and only for the fact that he was here today, telling some of his early doings, I should have forgotten him. George says he once broke into lake Elysian through the ice. He stood with one toe on a pond lily root and pawed
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ice until he wore his finger nails off to the first joint-was in the water about two hours and twenty minutes by the watch. Pat Cahill was standing on a piece of rotten ice not more than a rod away and dared not come to help him for fear both would be drowned. Richard Dreever and another man, as soon as they could cut a boat loose out of the ice, came to George's relief by sliding the boat along on the ice, After getting to George, the man with Richard, instead of at once helping him out, had to stop and ask, 'What in h-1 brought you here?' George and Cahill finally got out of it all right.
"George is a live corpse yet, and looks as though he would be here until the Winnebagoes come again. He has a good farm and house, and can 'sling' the Indian dialect 'right smart' yet. He was here when the Winnebagoes came, I suppose, but he could not talk fast enough to keep them from tying to his horse bridle one of the big toes severed from the body of one of the Sioux Indians murdered by the Winnebagoes, in 1862, to appease the anger of the whites on account of the Sioux massacre on the frontier.
"I am giving too much attention to George, so I return to David Codding- ton, my wife's father. He died here in 1878. A. H. Coddington moved to Kansas in 1884. Jerry Hogan was found dead in his house several years ago. James Hogan lives on the same farm, and Thomas Hogan now lives in Alton. John Hogan, I think, came first in 1855, returned to Kentucky for a time, but now lives on his old farm."
[Mr. Cummins wrote the foregoing in 1896-The author.]
MR. S. A. FARRINGTON.
Among the early settlers of Waseca county there are few more un- assuming or more worthy than the subject of this sketch. Iur. Farring- ton was born August 27, 1827, in the county of Kennebec, state of Maine. In 1850 he left his native state to seek a home in the West, first stopping in Peoria, Illinois, and afterward in Green Lake county, Wisconsin. In 1855 he was married to Miss Mary A. Foster, who was born in Cay- uga county, New York.
May 10, 1857, a company from Green Lake county started for Minne- sota in "prairie schooners." The company consisted of S. A. Farrington and wife, Mr. Farrington's father and mother, his sister, Sarah, a brother. Franklin and his wife, widow Lincoln, afterwards wife of Hon. B. A. Lowell, of Waseca, with her four boys and a girl, Volney Dewitt and wife, and a young blacksmith named Michael Quiggle.
The company had five wagons and nine yoke of oxen, with some cows and other cattle. Near LaCrosse they fell in with other emigrants, among them Daniel Styles and wife, and son Elijah and wife, who joined the company and settled in the same neighborhood.
Some of the way the company made slow progress. There were few bridges in the country, and the roads were not graded at all.
In many places they were obliged to hitch all the teams to one wagon at a time in order to haul the vehicles through the mudholes or sloughs.
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with axles dragging on the ground, sometimes pulling out wagon tongues and breaking log-chains. One day they made only one mile, camping in sight of the camp-fire of the night before.
After many days of weary toil they arrived at their place of settlement, in what is now Otisco, June 14. They soon selected claims and went to. work building places to live in. Mr. S. A. Farrington built a log house, 14x20, one story high. At first they had only an earth floor. The cover, or roof, was made of poles, hay and prairie sod. Later he obtained a few narrow, poplar boards, at the Clinton mill, by waiting to have them sawed. The other houses were all about the same.
S. A. Farrington took a claim on section 25-his father, brother, De- witt and M. Qniggle on section 26. Daniel and Elijah Styles and Mrs .. Lincoln took claims near by. As soon as possible after their arrival, they commenced running the breaking plow, using from five to seven pair of oxen to the plow, and breaking some on each claim.
The first child born in the settlement was Minnie Farrington, daugh- ter of the subject of this sketch. She died at the age of eighteen years,
The seasons of 1858-9 were very wet and the settlers raised but very lit- tle grain. In the fall of 1858, Phillip Quiggle and family, joined the settle- ment from Wisconsin. As he was a blacksmith, he went to work in his son's shop on the day of his arrival; that night the shop was burned to, the ground with all its contents. His means being limited, he went to Owatonna to work at his trade. On the 1st of January, 1859, he. started for home with an ox team in the morning. About midnight of that day some one found him and his team in a snow bank near Owa- tonna. He had traveled all day and at midnight he was found near the piace from which he started in the morning, almost frozen.
Times were hard then-not such hard times as we have now with granaries full of grain-but genuine hard times, when it was difficult,. at times, to get enough to eat; some of the settlers got discouraged and left, and others would have done the same if they had had the means to go with.
On account of the wet summer of 1858 there was not much raised, as not much wheat was sowed and the corn did not ripen that year. Those who had money-and they were few-went to Mankato and other points for their supplies.
Of Mr. Farrington's company there are none now living in this county. His brother, Franklin, resides in Mineapolis, and his sister Sarah, in Dakota. Mrs. Dewitt died some years ago, and Mr. Dewitt is living in Iowa with his second wife. Uncle Daniel Styles and wife lie buried in the Otisco cemetery, and Elijah Styles sleeps in a soldier's grave in the South. His widow is living with friends in the East.
Mr. S. A. Farrington lived on his Otisco farm for twelve years, then sold it and bought another two miles south of Waseca, where he lived fourteen years. He then traded that for a farm on sections fifteen and sixteen, town of Wilton, containing 240 acres, where he resided for a num --
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ber of years. He then sold his farm and moved to Waterville where he resided until his death, which occurred Jan. 17, 1905.
Mk. ANDREW NELSON OF BLOOMING GROVE.
was born in Sweden, in the year 1829, and came to America in 1854. He urst lived in Moline, Illinois, where he remained about a year. The tidal wave of emigration was then pushing toward Minnesota, and young Neison was among the number who came to the state in 1855. He stop- ped in Red Wing where he found employment. After remaining there a little over a year, he came to Blooming Grove and selected a claim where he resided until the time of his death, which occurred April 11, 1901. He first built a log house, and, being a single man, worked out much of the time until he was married in 1861. His first wite's maiden name was Christina Evanson.
In 1865, he returned to visit friends in his native land. Shortly after his return from Sweden, his first wife died. He married again some ume afterwards.
At the time of his death he was well-to-do, having three hundred and forty acres of land, eighty acres of which was timber. He came to this county empty handed and worked by the day to get his start. He cradled grain many a day in the harvest field for a dollar a day. Like many another old settler, he hauled wheat to Hastings, camping by the way- side, and sold it for fifty cents a bushel- often spending five or six days in making the trip with one load.
THE HONORABLE WILLIAM BRISBANE.
"I received a card from you requesting me to give what information I may possess in regard to the early settlement of the county. I may state that the county was partially settled when I came, and no doubt there are old settlers still living better qualified to give you the informa- tion you desire than I am; however, if I can contribute anything inter- esting to your historical department, you are welcome to it. I see you ask replies to twelve different questions. First, my full name, age, birth place, and that of my wife. My name is William Brisbane. I was born in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, December 11, 1811, and have just passed the seventy-fifth milestone in the journey of life. My wife's name is Janet Scott. She was born in the Parish of Minto, Roxburghshire, Scotland, and is now seventy-six years old. I may state that my father was a soldier in the British army, and that my mother and I were sent home a little before the battle of Waterloo. My mother being a native of the town of Hawick, I lived there until I emigrated to America; hence I have always called myself a Hawick man. I came to America in the spring of 1839; lived ten years in the state of New York. I then lived ten years in Fon du Lac county, Wisconsin, when I came to Minnesota and settled in the town of Wilton in the spring of 1859. The season be- fore had been very wet, and the county was literally a quagmire. I recol- lect that we would some times camp two nights in sight of the same
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house and have to unload two or three times a day and carry our goods to dry ground. It was called a new country. I thought it so new that it hadn't had time to dry since the spirit moved upon the face of the waters; but upon examination, I found that the soil was very rich, and by proper cultivation might become well adapted to the raising of either grain or stock, for to keep land in heart, grain and stock must go to- gether. I am happy to say that my expectations have been fully real- ized; in fact, I have found that even our wire grass sloughs, by being properly drained, may become the most profitable land we have. I
bought one hundred and sixty acres of prairie and nine acres of timber from a Mr. Wattles, who was paying interest at the rate of ten per cent. a month to Thomas E. Bennett of Winona. I brought with me forty-two head of horned cattle, young and old, with a span of yearling colts. The original farm, on the prairie, now consists of two hundred forty-eight acres, with about one hundred fifty acres under cultivation, the re- mainder in hay and pasture, with twenty acres of timber. There are on the place thirty-eight head of horned cattle and thirteen horses, young and old. There is a barn 30x40 feet, with an ell 16x40 feet, with under- ground stables; two granaries, one 22x30 feet, the other 16x22 feet; a frame house 20x28 feet, with two wings, one 16x20 feet, the other 12x16 feet. My wife and I occupy the old frame building. The whole is now in possession of our son, W. R., with whom we are living and quietly waiting the time when we shall bid farewell to all earthly possessions. I may say that my wife and I who have shared the joys and sorrows of life together, have just completed our fifty-fifth year of married life.
You then want to know if I held any offices. Yes; lots of 'em. I have held so many that if I hadn't been a Scotchman, I should have died from softening of the brain long ago, for I have been school district director, town supervisor, assessor, and I believe the first member Wa- seca county sent to the state legislature as an independent representa- tive district. I am now town clerk, justice of the peace, and president of the anti-horse thief society. It is said the words, "Man, know thy- self," were posted up in a heathen temple, but it is of no use for a man to study his own character nowadays. The editors will do that for him. I had no idea that I possessed such a many-sided character until I be- came a candidate for legislative honors. My friends gave me credit for virtues that I am certain I never possessed, and my enemies as- cribed vices to me I never had even dreamed of.
Then you want to know all about my lucky hits. I have been in regard to lucky hits what Artemus Ward was to railroad accidents. Artemus says he never had a railroad accident; he was always a little too early or a little too late; that is my case exactly. I have always been before or behind the lucky hits. My wife, looking over my shoulder, whispered softly in my ear, "I know of one lucky hit you made." When was that? I said. "When you married me," said she, with an air of triumph gleaming in her eyes. I
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freely acknowledge the fact, as I am always willing to give honor to whom honor is due.
Then you want to get all the facts within my knowledge regarding the early settlement of my neighborhood. That would take a volume, and I have neither time nor ability to write a hook; you must be content with a few facts jumbled hastily and incoherently together. I have often wondered why our magazine writers have not seized upon the experi- ences and hardships undergone by early settlers. They might be woven into more thrilling and instructive narratives than the sickly, sentimental novels so destructive to the morals of our youth. I find from town records that the first town meeting was held at the house of Joseph Doty (now F. Hollander's) on the 11th day of May, 1858, pursuant to an act to provide for township organization. The meeting was called to order, and Philo C. Bailey was appointed chairman; whereupon, the object of the meeting being stated, Buel Welsh was duly elected moderator and Thomas L. Paige, clerk. On motion of Mr. Woodbury, the name of the township was called Wilton. Polls were opened, and the following named persons were elected: For supervisors, W. W. Robinson (chairman), John Brand, A. J. Woodbury; town clerk, Tarrant Putnam; assessor, L. Curtiss; col- lector, Tarrant Putnam; justices of the peace, J. B. Jackson, Philo C. Bailey; overseer of poor, A. Miller; constables, P. VanDyke, - Stevens.
The day that I arrived in Wilton, April 5, 1859, I found that the town meeting had just heen adjourned from the Globe hotel to B. A. Lowell's hall. There were some unconverted sinners in the whisky business then. Even Pat himself could then, occasionally, turn up his little finger for medical purposes. I merely mention these things to show the advance in civilization. Uncle Bris. was then, as now, a conservative, as most Scotchmen are.
I will give two or three extracts from reports made by committees in those early times. They are what Squire Green would have called "char- acteristic." A committee (No. 1) was appointed (1859) to take into con- sideration the amount of tax necessary to defray township expenses. It reported that "for the repair and construction of roads and bridges no money is needed above road tax and land road tax, and that a tax not exceeding one hundred fifty dollars is all that would be necessary to de- fray the expenses of said town the ensuing year; all of which was re- spectfully submitted by A. T. Peck, Thomas Barden, and Peter VanDyke, committee." A. G. Sutlief then made a motion that no hreachy, horned cattle shall be allowed to run at large. I thought this was a chance for the muleys. Committee No. 2 reported "that, first, for the current and in- cidental expenses of the town, we recommend the raising of one hun- dred twenty-five dollars; second, that twenty-five dollars be raised for the immediate erection of a pound in the town of Wilton: third, that for the assistance and support of the poor we recommend the raising of twenty-five dollars, making a total sum of one hundred seventy-five dol- lars. All of which was respectfully submitted by M. S. Gove, P. C. Bailey,
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and George W. Watkins, committee." They were so economical that I was surprised that a motion wasn't made to set the poor to herding the cattle and thus save the pound money. Another report was made "that the poundmaster shall receive as fees for impounding hogs twelve and one-half cents; letting the same out, twelve and one-half cents, and twelve and one-half cents per day for every day said hog is kept in the pound. For sheep, the same fees be allowed as for impounding hogs, cattle and oxen. The pound master shall receive as fees fifty cents for letting a stallion into the pound, and fifty cents for letting said stallion out, and fifty cents per day for keeping said stallion .- S. P. Child, chair- man; attest, Tarrant Putnam, clerk." I may state that the first ballot box used was made by D. L. Whipple, and cost one dollar. It might have passed for an antediluvian rat trap, and as it is still in existence, it may be eagerly sought after as a curiosity for our county museum, when we get one.
Everything in and around Wilton, although it was then the county seat, seemed dull and stagnant. Hastings was the nearest market, and there was nothing to stimulate enterprise. The only things that broke the monotony of life were law suits, in which J. T. Eldridge figured conspic- uously, for in almost every suit J. T. appeared either as a witness or one horse counsel and in many cases he appeared as both witness and counsel; that is, he gave outside counsel, and inside evidence. So
notorious as a witness did he become that I recollect in one case a law- yer in court said "Mr. Eldridge will be sworn." "Of course," said Judge Donaldson, "Mr. Eldridge will have to be sworn." His evidence was impeached, but instead of blushing at the exposure, he seemed rather proud of the notoriety the impeachment gave him. He was my nearest neighbor, and I often talked to him about the value of a good reputation. I really began to believe that he had turned a corner and like Balaam prayed that he might die the death of the righteous; but, as we say in Scotland, what is bred in the bone is hard to eradicate from the flesh.
I had almost forgotten to state that the first bridge built in road district No. 2, was built by S. P. Child and his brother Pat. It cost five dollars, a sum in perfect harmony with the economy of the times. It was the narrowest bridge I ever saw; so very narrow that a religious enthusiast might have mistaken it for the road to paradise. Next year, being over- seer of highways, I tore it out, as I considered it dangerous for a Scotch- man coming home from Wilton after dark. I have an idea that a broad bridge isn't so apt to lead to destruction as a narrow one; so, actuated by a feeling of self preservation, I built a broader one, and the feeling of safety I enjoyed was ample compensation for my trouble. .
INDIAN WAR.
But Wilton was soon to be aroused from her Rip Van Winkle slumber, with this difference, that instead of waking up after the war, she awoke to find the nation engaged in a hand to hand struggle for existence.
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One day the citizens had met to bid good bye to a number of the boys who were starting for the front, some of whom never came back, but offered up their lives a willing sacrifice upon the altar of their country. The last wagon was barely out of sight when the stage from the west brought us the terrible news of the Indian massacre. The people were so confounded that they couldn't be brought to realize the fact that such a bloody tragedy had been enacted. About mid-afternoon, when the ex- citement had somewhat cooled, it was suddenly kindled again into fever heat, by the appearance of two men in a covered buggy, one a white man, the other an Indian grasping a rifle. The white man said they were from the agency and that the Winnebagoes were making very warlike demonstrations, and that they had come to solicit immediate help. Here then, we thought, was war at our very doors, and most all of our young men gone South. A meeting was soon held and volunteers called for. All seemed chock-full of patriotism, and spoiling for fight. It was agreed that the volunteers should secure what arms they could and meet at the Globe hotel, at 8 o'clock that night. On my way to Wilton, I called upon Peter Van Dyke who, in the afternoon, seemed to have no other thought but just to kill two at a blow; but a change had come over his dream of military glory, for I found Peter in bed groaning with neu- ralgia. His wife, the better man of the two, shamed him and called him a coward. Very few came at the time appointed, and I began to think neuralgia had become epidemical. If memory serves me right, three wagons started about 11 o'clock. The night was pitch dark, with a heavy, drizzling rain falling, and the roads"almost impassable. We had taken with us all the ammunition Wilton could furnish, not forgetting a little drop of the "craithur," but on such a night the supply was not equal to the demand, and the men began to doze. They were suddenly startled into life again by the second wagon running into the one ahead, which had stopped. Upon enquiring what the matter was, the teamster said that he had heard an Indian war whoop and refused to go on. While de- liberating upon the situation, the loud crowing of roosters broke the stillness of the night air.
So, after a not very hearty laugh, we started ahead again, and arrived at the Agency as the day began to break, wearied and jaded enough. Balcombe, the agent, received us with apparent gratitude, and thanked us for responding so promptly to the call for aid. A few bales of Indian blankets were ripped open and spread down as couches for us to lie upon and rest, but our nerves were too much excited by the novelty of our sur- roundings to get the rest we so much needed; so, getting up and per- forming our ablutions, we thought we would take a stroll and reconnoitre a little; but here we were met by a difficulty we were hardly prepared for. Col. Ide and Balcombe objected to our taking our guns with us, as it might excite the Indians, they said. I remarked that if the Indians had any hostile intentions they would be more apt to attack unarmed men than if they had arms in their hands. The Colonel didn't think that
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there was any danger. Then if there is no danger, I said, why are we here? I saw I had no influence, and finally gave in, leaving my gun in a room of the government store house. While sauntering along, a few Indians passed us. One of them complimented us by calling us G-d d --- n whites. He could swear in English, anyway. We concluded that things presented rather a warlike aspect, and that we had better go and secure our guns; but to our surprise we found the door of the room in which we had left our guns locked, and nobody could tell who had the key. I said I would find a key, grasping a stick of cordwood. Just then a man by the name of Dyer came running with the key. He said that he had gone out on the prairie for a load of hay and taken the key with him. At night we were doomed to another surprise. The storekeeper, Jim Hubbell, Col. Ide, and agent Balcombe proposed dividing the men and stationing one party at Hubbell's store and the other part at the government store house. This I strenuously opposed, as there were so few of us; however, I told Balcombe if he would assume the responsibility of command, I would willingly serve under him until troops arrived. He said he would assume no responsibility, though he distributed a few flasks of powder among us Here then we found no one to act as leader, and with no plan of action, so that in case of an attack it would be every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost. It looked to me as though we were running with eyes open into a trap, and I began to wish myself well out of it. The next day was distribution day, but few Indians were around; they were down in the woods holding a pow-wow. The squaws came for the provisions and they cut a very ludicrous figure as they waddled away with a bag of flour and a chunk of pork strapped on their backs. In the afternoon the Indians came from the woods, dressed in all their toggery and war paint. A sort of council was held; the Indians formed in a circle with the chiefs and interpreter in the center. The chiefs, according to the interpreter, complained of unfair dealing by the agent. The scene, with its surround- ings, was extremely picturesque. While walking around in the evening along with a man hy the name of Burgess, we saw two squaws leave a store carrying something between them. They kneeled down on the prairie, applying their hands in quick, successive movements to their mouths. I felt a curiosity to see what they were doing. I found them engaged in the delectable employment of eating sugar. They motioned me to kneel and partake with them. I did so, but I believe I forgot to ask a blessing, my mind being too much engrossed by the novelty of the scene. Then the idea flashed across my mind like greased lightning, wouldn't this be a precious item for Pat Child to hear that Uncle Bris. was found out on the prairie after dark eating sugar with a couple of squaws? I began to realize that I might be committing an act of im- propriety, and, like St. Paul, I mentally exclaimed oh, wretched man that 1 am; and, being a virtuous man, I trembled for my reputation. So, gird- ing up my loins, I bowed a graceful acknowledgement to my entertainers, rejoined my companion, and I never saw my dusky doxics any more.
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